Book of the Dead

Occasionally, my father took me to the electronics factory where he worked (and co-owned with a couple business partners) on weekend, when I was about eight or ten. I hated it. I never told him, but my grumpy early morning was partly redeemed by the ferry ride. I enjoyed the cool sea breeze in an … Continue reading →

Get Really Close to Another Human Being This Life Time

Now I understand why Georges Bataille wrote about some sovereign moments between two people in love, and everybody would take it as an allegory of the bloody Spanish Civil War. Hong Kong cultural critic Leung Man-tao discusses love and marriage in a recent interview, and his main point, if you allow me for an intentional … Continue reading →

Por ahora: Remembering Tiananmen, June 4, 1989

Red Shirt for Burma, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in My Heart, originally uploaded by Taekwonweirdo. If you ask me which photo of me I like the most, I have to say this one. I was in front of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Chicago, supporting Burma’s failed Saffron revolution. Failed, to borrow Hugo … Continue reading →

Agriculture biologique

Earlier, the New York Times ran a story on Kopi Luwak, or coffee beans harvested in the form of civet cat dung. I greeted the story with a smile, not because I have ever tasted it, but because I have written about it. I wrote a thank you note to accompany my sister’s wedding souvenir, … Continue reading →

Amuser et instruire

As a new arrival in the blogging community, I can certainly learn from my friends’ experience so I can achieve the most (or so I think) with the least nuisance. Coming from a background of humanists, I do not know that many geek friends. They probably regard my knowledge and know-how as woefully inadequate. But … Continue reading →

Je voudrais mon steak bleu

So, wow, Ricky Martin is gay. How surprising! Still, I bet his coming out is more noteworthy than the revelation of many secret marriages of Hong Kong celebrities, with the latest fallout being that of Charlene Choi and Ronald Cheng. Marriage is, by and large, a social institution. You get wed because you want people … Continue reading →